Arcen Games has been hard at work on the Nihon no Mura expansion for our PC/Mac strategy release Skyward Collapse, and we're excited to announce that the downloadable content is out now in beta and available for pre-order through the Arcen Store!

The expansion's content introduces the Japanese as the title's third playable faction – joining the fray with the base game's Norse and Greek contingents. The floating continent of Luminith's newest addition boasts both a very strong military as well as a very strange pantheon of active and aggressive gods.

Hamlets are the expansion's other major addition - these are non-combative, non-factional villages that can be built in the remains of the fallen towns of either faction and actually provide an entirely new victory condition.

Nihon no Mura will officially launch later this month for $2.99 and can be pre-ordered for 10% off during its beta phase. Trading Cards for Skyward Collapse are also available now on Steam.

About Skyward Collapse: Nihon no Mura
The floating continent of Luminith is now home to more than just the Norse and Greeks: the Japanese enter the fray as a playable faction. The Japanese of Luminith have a very strong military and a very strange pantheon of gods: their gods are much more active and aggressive than their Greek and Norse counterparts, and each god has three unique creatures rather than three god tokens. Learning to play this new style of faction effectively is a fun new challenge, because it changes the flow of everything: you can't drop the usual god tokens for points, instead having to rely on lots of creature summons. Given how powerful this then makes the Japanese military, the Norse and Greek god tokens have to be used in new and creative ways to drive back this threat.

Hamlets are the other major addition in Nihon no Mura. These non-combative, non-factional villages can be built in the remains of the fallen towns of either faction. Ignore the hamlets and they will be taken over by slums. Tend to them and you can build up a mix of nobles and peasantry that will generate a new Culture resource for you. Culture allows you to activate some powerful new abilities, such as enlarging the radius of your factional towns. Amass enough Culture and Sunstone and you can even win the game via a new method: constructing the incredible Luminith Tower.

This expansion is currently in beta, and will be fully released later in August. Not all features are implemented yet, and there are sure to be some bugs during beta! Click here for the list of implemented-features-so-far.

Features

Unique new Japanese faction with a completely new way of handling their gods.
Hamlets allow for non-factional building construction that enable several powerful new abilities.
New "Hamlet Idyll" game mode that lets you play with hamlets without the military side of the game.
New alternate win condition! Construct the Luminith Tower via resources earned in your hamlets.
Several new map types, woes, land tile types, and a useful new Military Outpost building for all factions.
More music!

About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.

AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio just launched its latest title, turn-based strategic god game Skyward Collapse, this past May and now turns its attention to developing its latest project Bionic Dues along with adding new content to both AI War and Skyward Collapse over the coming months.

Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our website, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.